I take both the novel and its writer seriously.

I have worked professionally in editorial for more than sixteen years. My background includes literary-agency experience, a BA in Classics, an MA in Children’s Literature and a postgraduate qualification in journalism, alongside advanced professional training in developmental editing and line editing.

I’ve always loved finding out how stories work beneath the surface. During my MA, I explored literary theory, including metafiction and intertextuality, and the inventive ways writers shape a reader’s understanding. The discipline of following an idea, questioning it and making connections has stayed with me.

I use that way of thinking every day. Sometimes a beautifully written scene sits in the wrong place, or a small detail gives away a revelation too soon. I enjoy untangling those problems and, more importantly, explaining the solutions in plain English. That thinking is at the heart of my developmental editing and editorial assessments. Authors shouldn’t need an MA to understand their editorial report!

I specialise in psychological suspense, thrillers, crime and mystery, horror, women’s psychological and commercial fiction, and selected young adult and middle-grade novels. I do not take on every genre or every project. A good editorial relationship begins with genuine fit.

My feedback is detailed and candid, but never careless. I explain the reasoning behind an editorial response and protect the qualities that make a manuscript distinct. Writers should finish an edit understanding their own book more deeply, not feeling that somebody else has rewritten it for them.